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Actress Daveigh Chase has died at the age of 35. Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, confirmed she passed away on June 16 from complications of meningitis and a severe blood infection that led to septic issues and organ failure.
TMZ reported she had been hospitalized earlier this month for malnutrition.
Born Daveigh Elizabeth Chase in Las Vegas and raised in Oregon, she began acting at just 7 years old, appearing in commercials and guest roles on shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and ER. By 2001, she had landed a breakout role as Jake Gyllenhaal's younger sister in Donnie Darko. That same year, she voiced Chihiro in the English dub of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, showcasing her talent as a voice actress.
Her career-defining moment came in 2002 when she voiced Lilo in Disney's Lilo & Stitch. The role of the spirited Hawaiian girl who befriends an alien became beloved worldwide, and Chase reprised the character in sequels and the TV series.
That same year, she terrified audiences as Samara Morgan in The Ring. Her chilling performance as the ghostly girl crawling out of a television earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain, beating out heavyweights like Daniel Day-Lewis and Willem Dafoe.
Chase continued to work steadily, including a recurring role on HBO's Big Love as Rhonda Volmer, a manipulative teenager in a polygamist sect. She reprised her Donnie Darko role in the 2009 sequel S. Darko and appeared in films such as Beethoven's 5th and Jack Goes Home. By the mid-2010s, however, she largely stepped away from acting.
Hernandez noted in a GoFundMe that Chase had faced personal struggles, including bullying and estrangement from her family, but said they "found moments of happiness and hope" together before her health declined.
